Fallen Wolves
by LollipopsAreTears
Summary: Close after the renewal of the world, Tsume is the leader of crooks once again. And a runt stands alongside him. What lies ahead deals with a place called Paradise, and two nobles who wish to grasp hold of them...
1. Default Chapter

**Fallen Wolves**

Chapter One

The sound of gunfire echoed in his mind, hearing Tsume's orders to retreat from the keep. He bit his lip; he wouldn't back out again with the standbys. He would prove himself this night. Reloading the gun in hand he watched the black capsules roll silently on the ground…

"You can do this…" Another surge of worry came through him, "You can't back out now…not until-" The firing stopped…which made him even more cautious. Did the whole team really back out? And for what, to look like frightened pups with their tails between their legs like the nobles wanted them to?

Black armored men marched out in a perfect line to the west wing at his right side. Darn, they knew it was the only exit in this side of the keep. The sound of their heavy boots pounding on the floors made his heart race.

"One…" His amber eyes were fixated on the army of soldiers as he pushed himself farther against the wall. "Two…" The red strip of glass was clearly the eye of the monstrous creatures they seemed almost inhuman… "Three!"

He stepped out before the troupe, the marching stopped, and all their shields came forth to reflect any attack. Why didn't he press the trigger? His mind raced as the soldiers parted, making way for a woman in pale armor making her way towards him.

She unsheathed slowly a long, silver blade; it hadn't been cleaned for what he could tell. The sword was stained in crimson, which was blood…human blood. _Their _blood…

He looked at his hands. They shook and shone in the dim light with nervous sweat. His fingers were slipping from the trigger, trying to keep his watch on the woman's every move. Just one bullet above her breast and it would be over…

Before his mind could conjure what had happened, a gray blur whipped out from behind him. Blood splattered on the floors along with his clothes, he cried out in fear. Falling to the ground, he crawled helplessly like a child.

"Come on!" A gruff voice ordered him, he looked up to see Tsume with those piercing gold eyes. They weren't smiling down at him, but they were aflame with anger. He could feel tears wanting to fall freely from his eyes…but he couldn't cry.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, getting to his feet, the blood making his boot slip. His mind drew a blank and he grabbed on to Tsume, seeing the man look at him with shock. He clearly saw his hands on his boss's shoulders. It didn't seem right to touch someone as high as he was…

"Hurry up!" With those words said, he moved quickly enough for his hands to recoil. In an instant a trooper swung his blade at Tsume from the back, with a swift movement he saw him clamp his teeth down on the enemy's neck.

He watched in horror, his mind trying to adjust to what he just saw. Then noticing that he was slung over Tsume's shoulder like a prize he won in one of their lootings. They seemed to be rushing by these people with such speed…

Tsume leaped, it seemed gravity couldn't hold him down…the two soared over them, crashing through a stained glass window to the cold night air. Seeing how they fell so many feet to the ground…

"T-Tsume…" He whispered, his auburn hair whipping at his face as the two seemed to reach closer to ground. The ground seemed to fly up at them for he only remembered feeling the cold snow on his face and the taste of blood on his lips.

"Get up," The voice once again instructed him, "And don't do something that idiotic again. Alright?" Those gold eyes stared at him. "What's your name kid?"

"T-Toboe…" The air in his lungs seemed to be gone, trying to regain himself and stand up. "What did you…do back there?" Toboe looked up to see his boss already walking away.

Feeling foolish enough already he caught up with him, "Where are the others, Tsume?"

"We lost half of them." There was not a hint of remorse in his voice, "the others are waiting out in the city." Toboe felt his heart sink, so much of them had died. He wiped the remaining blood from his nose.

"There is a domed city to the north, we'll most likely make it their in a week's time." There was a silence between them, one not even the strongest man of their group could break. "We'll stop at Kyrios to stock up. Alright?"

Toboe didn't understand why he asked him. After all, he was just one of 'them'. If he died, would Tsume talk to someone like this as he did now? And why…why did he save him?

"Sure… Tsume?" He raised a brow, that at least caught his attention, "Why did you save me back their?" He threw back his head to the skies and laughed, Toboe stopped and stood amazed at the sight.

"Save you? You were just in my way," He carried on walking, "I might as well have saved you. After all, a runt couldn't take on a whole hundred of troops."

"A hundred?" Toboe felt proud of himself, as if he had a kindling of bravery in himself after all. "Well, I wanted to be like you…" Tsume stopped in his tracks, his gold eyes glaring at the snow.

"You don't…want to be like me," His words came out sorrowfully, never had he seen him loosen up. "I've done things in my past one could barely even imagine."

Toboe shook away all the thoughts of doubting for one moment that he wanted to be like him. "Really, I mean it! I do want to be like you!"

"Shut it kid…don't rub off on me like that, it really pisses me off." Their was the old Tsume, talking again as he had always done, in a harsh manner. Toboe took down his pace by a few steps, walking behind Tsume.

-

A howl pierced the night, awaking Toboe from his sleep he couldn't see Tsume at all. The back of the carrier car was filled with the rest of the group, but none fit Tsume's appearance. The musty leather drape was their only protection from the cold. The flaps of leather fluttered in the wind, the opening to the outside…

The young boy stepped out into the snow, looking around for where he heard the sound. For a strange reason he hadn't taken his gun, he was barely clothed except the pants on his legs, his bare feet seemed to like the bitter cold.

Toboe walked out farther from the car seeing a dog a few feet before him, its gray fur moved in the winds. Its gold unwavering eyes watched his every movement.

"Hello," he found himself speaking to the canine. The dog got up on its legs and snarled, fangs bared and past them the growl of warning. He had encountered dogs before, but never outside a city, hundreds of miles outside its usual boundaries... Strange, a dog never left its home.

It was a stray…it was alone…

Tears burned in his eyes and he found himself crying, the wolf seemed shocked by this. It stopped growling and baring its teeth then, with a swift movement, it was gone.

"What are you doing out here?" Toboe turned seeing the familiar face of his friend.

"I…" Toboe stopped, seeing that she was out here herself, "Well, what are you doing then?"

"I..." She turned flustered and kicked snow at his face, "Just get back to sleep runt!"

He laughed and kicked teasingly back at her, "Aren't you going to bed as well?"

"No, it's my duty to keep watch for awhile, besides, I see our leader's gone missing."

'You noticed too,' Toboe thought. It seemed awkward that only the two of them had awokento that howl. One belonging to a stray, all alone in the miles of white, it saddened him for an unknown reason."Blue…"

"Yeah? What is it?" He saw her look at him differently, the scarlet scarf at her neck fluttering in the wind.

"Nothing…goodnight."

Blue turned, seeing him return back to the others, she closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them to see a light auburn wolf heading to the carrier…her eyes were playing tricks on her…

-

Blue headed after Toboe not long after, she lied about being on duty. She couldn't even believe that he had actually thought what she said was true. She knew she heard that howl, and it wasn't the first time she heard it…

She looked at the white grounds in thought, something caught her eye…a paw print in the snow. Her blue eyes widened at the strange marking on the snow, the only person who had entered the carrier car was Toboe…

_"Keep out on the look for them Blue, you can never be too sure," The mayor of Kyrios, Quent, sat across from her at the desk in his home office. She nodded, remembering the name clearly in her mind to who she would look after. 'Tsume' that was the name…wherever he went, some proof of supposed wolves were found…_

She fell back, leaning against the car, staring at the prints marked in the white. He couldn't be…there was no way he could be…a wolf.

(End of Chapter One. RR so I know if you wish for the story to continue.)


	2. A place called Paradise

_The inhuman beings turned towards him, he could feel the hair on his neck prick as they lifted their blades. Beyond that crimson strip of glass was emptiness. No sense of life reeked through these beings at all. With a cry he felt himself burn with fear, the trigger was pulled and the image before him shattered like glass. Wind roared in his ears as he fell back into the cold, thrusting winds of the snowstorm. Falling like a stone to the ground…_

Toboe awoke from slumber, groping the ground to make sure it was the cold metal he felt on his bare fingertips. The sky above him was navy green, no, it wasn't the sky at all. With a reluctant sigh the young boy understood he was in the carrier car.

His amber eyes scanned the room for Blue, no luck, she wasn't even there. It worried him to think that she could have run in with that dog while on patrol. Or maybe she ran off to go look for it, after all, she was reckless.

"You awake?" One of the standbys asked, he was a scrawny boy with wide, gray eyes. Long blonde hair fell to his hips, for all he knew Tsume must've mistaken him for a woman when assigning the kid to the job. They never really were assigned, they just seemed like followers. All going the same way, the same road, it was all a journey to him.

The question still lingered, waiting to be answered. Besides, why would someone ask such a thing? He was awake, wasn't he, so why did he even ask?

"Yeah…" Getting to his feet he stumbled, grasping hold to the leather wall he let out an exhausted sigh. He was as clumsy as a runt, he couldn't do anything better than getting someone in trouble, or himself. Toboe had always known he was the thinnest and the most foolish of the group, it didn't mind him…he thought of himself 'special' in a way.

The air was bitter as he stepped out into the snow, looking around him to catch a glimpse of her. Nothing, just plain white for miles around, and in that blur he caught sight of black. With rising hope he ran towards whatever it was.

_'It's her! I know it!' _He felt himself already panting, seeing the image become clearer with every step drawn. Toboe stopped, the figure trudged in the snow, carrying an item that glinted silver. The metal black beings flashed in his mind and he found himself frozen in fear.

He couldn't cry, or turn back for help. All that would be left of him when someone had heard his cry would find a bloodied heap. Already specked with the white of the snow as it concealed the impurity on its beauty.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" The gruff voice of the stranger said to him, he swallowed hard and gripped his gun. The only weapon, the only thing he could use now to spare his life, even if only for a minute.

"I should be asking you," he replied shakily, feeling the fear burn in him, "Who are you!"

The figure stepped forward and clearly he saw a pair of golden eyes stare down at him, "You know who I am runt. What kind of idiot made you king?" Toboe angrily glared at who he knew now was Tsume. "Remove your hand from that gun before I rip it off."

He did what he was told and stood there, waiting to feel his boss smack him upright on the head. With one eye still open he saw him continue on his way, brushing his shoulder.Hard.

The brush off, he knew how bad Tsume could get, but doing that to him. What happened yesterday…in the keep, did he save him just because…he didn't want to look like a coward? He had already lost so many yesterday, did one more really ring out his nerves?

"I thought…we were friends, Tsume."

"What good are friends? They just use you-"

Toboe felt the anger swell in his chest, ready to throw out his anger he pounded his fist on Tsume's chest. "You used me! You use all of us! Just because you're stronger makes you think you have everything! That people will be afraid of you…because they think you're different…Tsume-"

He didn't know what had happened, but he could taste the cold snow in his mouth. The aching pain in his jaw as he tried to speak.

"You shut your mouth kid! Just be glad I went easy on you!"

-

Blue saw Tsume emerge from the white blunder and came towards him, seeing Toboe sitting up halfway in the snow, wiping blood from his lip. She looked at her leader straight in the eye, seeing how he just glanced at her for a moment.

"Toboe!" She knelt to his side and held wipe the remainder of the blood. From what she could tell Tsume had given him the upper jaw cut. "Tell me what happened!" She forced her voice to sound stubborn, but at the same time it was saddened.

"I just thought…me and Tsume…were friends," he smiled weakly, his eyes looking intensely at the white grounds, he gave out a short laugh, "It was foolish of me to think that…I knew all along we weren't, but…I was so determined, to know."

Blue embraced him, and in that slight moment she could see the light brown wolf in her mind. Her hold quickly broke, remembering what the mayor of her hometown said to her. She knew there was to be wolves here…but, why Toboe?

"Toboe, do you, believe that there are still wolves? That they exist around us still?" She saw him look at her strangely, did he know he was a wolf? How couldn't he if she saw the boy change before her eyes a night ago.

"I heard from the cat's ear as you might say," He laughed, concern in those amber eyes once more, "He was so little, and alone…"

"Who?" She seemed to be drawn into this talk now that she was actually hearing a different side of her friend. Now was the chance to know more of the truth.

"A dog…he was so small, all the people who walked by him, ignored him…continuing with their own lives. I was just like him, a stray, that is…until Tsume found me."

She noticed he had stopped, making eye contact with Toboe. She needed to know, there was so little time before she returned back home… "How did he…,"

"Did he what?" Toboe asked, that quizzical look on his face that would make her laugh now clearly visible.

"He found you?" Blue saw him nod silently in reply, at first there was silence. It seemed he would never speak until someone prodded him again for the kid to speak.

"All I know…or what he told me…was that I was so little…He called me a mute since I was afraid to speak. How I trailed alongside him like a puppy, my small hand always holding to his…I was only five at the time."

It wasn't the cold that had hit her, but of what she had just heard. He was only five, just a kid, and he was astray. No home, family, or anybody who could give him comfort…he was like that dog, alone, and looked past.

Tears welled in her dark azure eyes, feeling the warmth on her cheeks as they fell off her tan face. She embraced Toboe, forgetting all that she had thought of him being a wolf.

It wasn't fair, it just didn't seem right…to be alone.

-

Tsume noticed the scrawny blonde youngster greet him at the carrier's opening. He could see those gray eyes smiling along with the boy's beaming face, how ill it made him to see that gitty dumb look on ones face.

"Take that dumb look off your face…it's making me sick."

"Yes sir!" The boy replied, saluting to him as a soldier would do to his general. Tsume stepped in the back of the car, all of his crooks dead asleep.

"Wake up!" He yelled, startling the sleeping men from their dreams and rest. All eyes glared at him, which made Tsume smile out of getting the pathetic bunch awake. He hated humans…all of them are all too weak and out minded and spoken for their own good. "We're heading to Kyrios! So load up and get ready!"

The blonde returned back into the warmth with his other fellow comrades and took hold of his own gun. Spilling out the thin bullets he had for thick ones, which were capsules of death themselves.

-

Toboe walked ahead of Blue, trying to hide the depression on his face as they returned to the vehicle. Something in him said this wasn't right, it seemed to quiet now, for all he knew it was mid-day. Wouldn't they hear the others, laughing and practicing with their new weapons and showing off their loot?

He stopped, right where the vehicle should have been, was tire tracks. For a minute he just stared at the continuous tire lines traveling into the distance. Then in rage he kicked the white snow, that's when he noticed the paw prints.

"Hey, Blue? The dog came back!" He heard her walk up from behind and kneel beside the prints. She spoke something that he couldn't hear, and then stood up, rubbing her stiff back.

"It did, probably from that same dog too…" Her voice trailed off, it seemed it was carried away with the wind. She looked off into the blurred horizon to where the car had vanished and gestured to him with her hand. "Let's go."

"Go? Go where?" He walked after her, keeping his sight on his friend. He was already worried that they left so soon, and now he didn't want to lose his friend.

"To Kyrios…"

"You know what I heard about Kyrios? It was one of the most wolf populated towns!" Blue turned to look at him, wide eyed, "I mean…that was what I heard from a man…he had a book…"

"A book?"

_"I tell you now the words of red moon, from the Great Spirit beyond was born the wolf. And man became its messenger. In another words…humans were created by wolfs…so says the author of the Book of the Moon." Quent looked at her with those serious, small pupil gray eyes, "That book I'm lookin' for, along with those wolves…"_

_She shifted uneasily in her chair, seeing the gun on the table and the flickering picture of the so-called 'Tsume' on his computer screen. "Why are you after them exactly, Quent?"_

_He never replied…_

"The Book of the Moon…" She whispered, Toboe was in earshot and heard what she said. Looking curiously at her, along with the fact of her strange silence. It just didn't seem like her to be so unspoken…

"The Book of the Moon? Is that about wolves too?"

Blue nodded and smiled, she closed her eyes to the welcoming cold breeze. "It's a dream oasis to humans…the place where wolves were born to find…" She laughs, "Paradise…I'm going to head out for there myself after Kyrios…"

"Paradise huh? Well, I'll go too!" Toboe smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. Ruffling his hair playfully he laughed, covering his head with his hands in as a weak defense.

He wasn't alone anymore…Toboe did have a home after all…and it was here…even if…it was just one person…it was like Paradise itself in his eyes…

( End of Chapter Two. Thanks for the reviews, all of you are so kind, and I hope you will like this chapter! RR!)


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